Religion | The American Task Force on Palestine

Israel condemns Palestinian cleric over sermon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - January 22, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Israel condemned the Palestinians' top cleric on Sunday for reciting, at a meeting of the dominant U.S.-backed Fatah faction, a passage from Muslim scripture that called for the killing of Jews. Preaching on Jan. 9 at a rally marking the 47th anniversary of Fatah's founding, Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein read out a Hadith, or traditional text attributed to the Prophet Mohammad.

Gaza Shiites claim Hamas persecution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Masked Hamas police beat and detained members of the Gaza Strip's tiny Shiite community during a religious commemoration last week, a follower and local rights groups said Tuesday, accusing their Islamist rulers of religious intolerance. It was the first claim of harassment by a group of Shiite worshippers against the territory's mainstream rulers, who are Sunni Muslims. Hamas officials, who have close ties with Shiite Iran, denied the allegations.

Egypt: Israeli Pilgrimmage 'Impossible' This Year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Maggie Michael - January 10, 2012 - 1:00am

CAIRO — Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it had told Israel that it would not be "appropriate" for Israeli pilgrims to make an annual visit to the tomb of a 19th-century Jewish holy man in the Nile Delta, as activists mobilized to block the pilgrimage route. Ceremonies at the tomb of Rabbi Yaakov Abu Hatzira have triggered yearly political sparring in Egypt throughout most of the last decade, with Islamists, nationalists, and others claiming that the government by allowing the pilgrimage is pursuing an unpopular policy of normalization with the country's former enemy.

IDF rabbinate edits out Dome of the Rock from picture of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gili Cohen - January 5, 2012 - 1:00am

Israel’s military rabbinate released an educational document ahead of the holiday of Hanukkah last month, featuring a photo of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount without the Dome of the Rock, Haaretz learned on Thursday. The photo was featured in a packet prepared by the Military Rabbinate issued to Israel Defense Forces bases ahead of Hanukkah, under the section titled “The Festival of Jewish Heroism,” which included an article and a quiz on the Jewish struggle against Hellenistic rule.

When 'Anti-Semitism' Is Abused
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Sarah Wildman - (Opinion) January 5, 2012 - 1:00am

We were raised to be vigilant. We were taught to fight oppression, admonished to be New Jews — strong, muscular, defiant. We were told to look for the signs, the slogans and the double-speak. We learned at the knee of those with tattooed forearms; knelt at the feet of those who lost brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, parents, grandparents, lovers, spouses, children. We have cried, we have wailed, we have lit thousands upon thousands of memorial candles. And we have sworn, again and again, that we would never forget.

Jimmy Carter Interview: Real Story Behind Egypt Israeli Peace Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Paul Brandeis Raushenbush - (Interview) January 5, 2012 - 1:00am

Jimmy Carter is the 39th president of the United States, founder of the Carter Center and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He has authored many books, the most recent being "Through the Year with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President." In this wide-ranging interview, HuffPost's Senior Religion Editor spoke to President Carter by phone about the role faith played in the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, the time of his greatest alienation from God, faith in the White House and his personal daily devotional practice.

As Israelis and Palestinians Talk, the Rise of a Political Islam Alters the Equation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday, their first encounter in more than a year, and while little emerged, the meeting said a great deal about the crossroads facing the Palestinians — and the entire Middle East — as political Islam emerges as a potentially transformative force in the region.

U.S. Jewish reform movement is keeping faith young
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Opinion) December 22, 2011 - 1:00am

An Orthodox Jewish friend, who happened to visit over the weekend of the Union for Reform Judaism biennial in Maryland, observed half-jokingly that Reform Jews don't care much about tradition. "They do not want to work hard with keeping mitzvas, but they have so much Judaica stuff here that it's probably the thing their Jewish identity is based upon: nice crafts with Jewish flavor."

Citing public safety, Israel orders closure of controversial walkway in Jerusalem’s Old City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
December 12, 2011 - 1:00am

Israeli authorities have ordered the closure of a pedestrian walkway in Jerusalem’s Old City that has become a flashpoint for competing religious and political claims. Jerusalem municipality spokesman Stephan Miller said Monday the temporary ramp is dangerous and the city engineer ordered it closed. The walkway leads up to the sacred enclosure known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. It is used by Jews and tourists, while Muslims use other entrances.

A surefire way to keep Israeli Arabs from voting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) November 29, 2011 - 1:00am

Against the wave of anti-democratic legislation, the meaning of conservatism is turned around; refraining from action becomes active political cooperation with the trampling of democracy.

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